In an article for the World Economic Forum, adult education expert Alan Tuckett explores the question of why there is not more financial and political commitment to adult education, even though there is ample evidence of its benefits to the individual, the economy and society.

He writes: "The benefits of adult learning are felt across the range of government departments - the improved health, notably mental health, that learners enjoy benefits health budgets, and offender learning reduces recidivism benefiting justice departments, for example. But on the other hand, the expenditure tends to be made in the margins of the education budget where schools' and universities' needs inevitably dominate".